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LOCAL OLYMPIANS CELEBRATE CANADA’S GOLD WITH STAMP PURCHASE

Feb. 22, 2010

Canada Post is proud to have commemorated Canada’s first Olympic gold medal won on Canadian soil by issuing a stamp featuring the medal. The stamp has already become a popular souvenir item and hundreds of thousands of the stamps have already been sold. Released on Sunday night after Alexandre Bilodeau’s victory on moguls, this previously unannounced stamp is available at www.canadapost.ca/celebrategold and in post offices across Canada. Only a limited number of stamps were printed and it is expected to sell out before the end of the Games.

Alexandre’s victory was the culmination of years of training, but is also credited to the effort of countless previous athletes paving the way. Olympians Paul Conlin (Bronze, men’s ice hockey, 1968), Sue Holloway (Silver & Bronze, canoeing, 1984), Sheridon Baptiste (3 time Olympian in bobsleigh) and Anne Jardin-Alexander (2 Bronze, Aquatics – swimming, 1976) will mark this occasion by purchasing their own booklets of the gold medal stamp and sharing their Olympic memories.

“Winning a Bronze medal in the Grenoble 1968 Olympic Winter Games was an amazing experience,” says Paul Conlin, a member of Canada’s Ice Hockey team that year. “Just being part of the Olympic experience is something to be treasured—we’re proud to represent our country and we’re thrilled by each other’s accomplishments. These stamps are a great tribute to every Canadian Olympian.”

Canada Post’s Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games stamp program, which includes stamps and a special set of cancels, has already captured the hearts of Canadians. More than 800 million stamps featuring the Olympic theme have already been sold.

Similar events were held in Edmonton and Toronto.

Sharing the spirit, Ottawa Olympians (L to R) Paul Conlin (Bronze, men’s ice hockey, 1968), Sheridon Baptiste (3 time Olympian in bobsleigh), Sue Holloway (Silver & Bronze, canoeing, 1984) and Anne Jardin-Alexander (2 Bronze, Aquatics – swimming, 1976) purchase Canada Post's exciting Celebrating Gold postage stamps at an Ottawa post office on Friday, February 19, 2010.

(L to R) Don Bartlett, 2002 Silver medal men's curler; Lori-Ann Muenzer, 2004 Gold medal cyclist; Judy Diduck, 1998 Silver medal women's ice hockey player; and Ken Karpoff, 1988 Biathlon, help celebrate Canada Post's exciting new Olympic Gold commemorative postage stamp at the Main Post Office in Edmonton, Wednesday, February 17, 2010.

Sharing the spirit, Olympians (from left) Lori Glazier (1998, Snowboard Half Pipe), Marilyn Ruth Take (1948, Figure Skating) and Rowan Barrett (2000, Basketball) purchase Canada Post's exciting new Celebrating Gold postage stamps from Canada Post employee Phil Galant at Toronto’s Station K Post Office, Thursday, February 18, 2010.

From left to right, Olympians Jean-Paul Banos (fencing at the Los Angeles, Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta Games), Marie-Pierre Gagné (synchronized swimming at the Beijing and Athens Games), Nathalie Giguère (200 m breaststroke at the Barcelona Games), Guivi Sissaouri (silver medal in freestyle wrestling at the Atlanta Games) and Jean-François Sénécal (shooting at the Los Angeles, Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta Games) purchased the new stamp specially issued by Canada Post in celebration of Canada’s first Olympic Gold Medal won on Canadian soil. The post office’s employees—Nancy Bienvenue, Heri Kanambi, Robert Potvin, Francine Métivier and Jean-Marc Cossette—were pleased to welcome these former local athletes.